Entertainment Weekly gives over its cover story to 'Gay Teens On TV - How a bold new class of young gay characters on shows like Glee is changing hearts and minds & Hollywood'"Gay teens are suddenly popping up in major roles all over television, with Glee’s popular pairing of Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine (Darren Criss) leading the way.
"How did gay teens go from marginalized outcasts and goofy sidekicks to some of the highest profile — and most beloved — characters on the likes of 90210, Pretty Little Liars, and Skins? And more importantly, how is this affecting real-life teens still facing the daily high-school realities of bullying, discrimination, and ignorance?
"The new issue of Entertainment Weekly investigates the history of gay teens on TV — from the angsty Rickie on My So-Called Life to sensitive-soul Jack on Dawson’s Creek to the slew of groundbreaking characters on Degrassi. We talk to the producers who fought for such progress, the actors who held the career-defining roles, and the activists who cheer recent advances — but are still pushing for more..."
This very subject inspired the first ever post on Fagburn in April last year, First Post, Last Betty, incidentally.
I don't think anything else shows so clearly the profound cultural shift that we are witnessing.
I've said it before and I'll say it again; Fagburn looks forward to the day when we'll look back at this and wonder what all the fuss was about.
And isn't that EW cover shot of Kurt and Blaine just adorable?
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I think Rickie in My So-Called Life was great, and Wilson Cruz was always out and proud in Hollywood and has had a fairly successful career since then. But he was playing Rickie in the early-mid 90s. He probably could have been much more successful if he'd gone in the closet but he's always said he never regretted it and I think he does a lot for LGBT causes. He's also absolutely fookin' hot!!!
ReplyDeleteJack on Dawson's Creek was okay, but he was a bit whiney and I remember seeing an interview at the time with Kerr Smith - the actor who played him - and he basically mocked Jack as being a bit of a limp-wristed fairy. Tosser.
I saw a clip of United States of Tara on Queerty and the gay characters in that were interesting.
Gay characters in British TV are in a sort of stasis at the moment, I think. It's really interesting in the States with all these different shows and characters surfacing. We had Queer As Folk, which was absolutely ace obviously and one of the most exciting things I'd ever seen in my life at the time, lol. But as you said yourself, Fagburn, what have we had since then?
All the good TV is coming out of the States right now, though.